VAL AIR - GRAND RE-OPENING

The Val Air Ballroom underwent an extensive, $15,000,000 renovation that took close to two years.  We heard about an open house that sounded like a great chance for me to FINALLY get inside and for Cindy to reconnect to the glory days of the '60s.  Gary Pullen started reaching out saying they wanted some cars from the '40s, '50s, '60s and '70s to get there early and be part of the open house "experience".  We weren't going to say no to that!

So down we went on a beautiful late February day with the temps in the upper 60s.  I was in a t-shirt and no worries.  We even joked some people might get a sunburn.  I borrowed Jacob's "big" camera...it has a bigger sensor so the pictures turned out great.  The beautiful blue sky helped.

Cindy had called a few day before and spoke with one of the owners (Doug).  She told him it was her haunt on Thursday nights back in the late '60s.  Also shared that I have a coat check tag we use as a keychain and that I have a Val Era shirt.

When we got down there, Gary was helping cars get parked.  We got a nice spot in front the "Edsel Family" but it was clear people got there WAY early to get those prime spots up front.  We had a nice time visiting with people we've met and others we hadn't.  We did track down Doug to show him what we have.  I printed two pictures for him to keep.  One was Mary Lou in front of the Val Air from August 2022 and other was a picture of the keychain.  He took a picture of my shirt (see below) and was going to take a picture of the coat check tag but "I said I can do you one better...here are photos for you to keep".

Keychain photo

Photo from August 2022

One thing you will notice is how the building and grounds were cleaned up.  They removed the siding that was put on years ago as a band-aid and painted it back to colors it had in the 1950s.  They cleared the bushes around the drive-up area.

    Here are photos from the day...

We ran into our friend Steve Berry (we told him to come down).  He got this nice "high angle" shot. 😀

Steve and Cindy

And we made the March issue of Iowa Living in the Ribbon Cutting section...

Enjoying the rays...

We made Channel 5 😄

This 1941 DeSoto belongs to a gentleman named Dave Holzinger.  We first met him at the Valley Church show last July.  He's involved with the Des Moines Concours d'Elegance.

Beautiful 1954 Merc

A member of the Charity Cruisers (John) and his 1961 Pontiac Tempest.  Was a 4-door.

This guy had a very straight 1964 Impala...he bought new!  Sold in the '70s and found it again in the '90s.

Here are some images I got from The Business Record and from the Val Air Ballroom Facebook page...

We made the aerial shots!

Back in the barn.

A FEBRUARY CRUISE?

 We've had some amazing temperatures this month.  Yesterday, Cindy was out and saw some really nice cars/trucks cruising and apparently got the fever!  Normally, I would let Mary Lou hibernate to April, but I got her started after work and we took a short drive. 😀

CAMP "DODGE" FOR A FINAL RIDE OF THE SEASON

 Last year didn't go as planned for putting Mary Lou away for the winter.  This year we had nice weather into November, so I gassed her up and added the bottle of Stabil I had from last year.  They also recommend you drive the car a while to let the additive circulate.  Darn!  One last ride it was.  I had seen other car owners get pictures of their ride by the jet at Camp Dodge.  The sun was going down, I had Jacob's camera, so I knew where I wanted to go.  Any why not?  The taillights on a '55 Dodge were inspired by jets...I mean it was The Jet Age.

WHAT DO YOU TAKE FOR A 50s THEME QUESTERS MEETING?

 Jane Ferguson is a member of a Questers group and invited Cindy to come to a meeting that had a 50s theme.  What to bring for show and tell??  Mary Lou!

On the way home from dropping Cindy off I stopped for a photo in my childhood neighborhood.  I like the look of the old bridge.

MARY LOU RIDES AGAIN!

 We decided to get Mary Lou out again after a long time off the road.  We last went to a car show on July 29.  Then Cindy had her heart attack the morning of August 5...the same morning her sister Diane passed.  That coupled with my job loss on August 14 meant the Dodge was a lower priority and became a possible asset to keep us afloat.  We are hanging on to her so far.  We have fond memories of Diane and Brad looking at the car with us prior to finalizing the purchase.

I checked the tires and Mary Lou was ready to cruise.

So out to the Sugar Shack we went.  We were hearing about Walt bringing different cars of of the "barn" but didn't see him when we got out there.

And then Walt and Marie rolled through in their beautiful 1955 Chevy Bel Air Nomad!